Product Description Guidelines
Let's face it, there's nothing worse than spending days (or weeks) working on a product, only to have it sit and not sell. Why is it not selling? Obviously, there are a lot of market forces at work, but two big factors (which are completely under the merchant's control) are the sales images and the product description. Sales Image Guidelines and Image Techniques are covered on separate pages, so this page will talk about how to write product descriptions.
Writing product descriptions (or "ad copy") has been a challenge for vendors ever since the first products were invented. Over the years, vendors have learned that the most effective product descriptions appeal to a customer's "want". Unfortunately, too many vendors simply assume that the biggest "want" is price: why bother talking about a product when it's only $1.99? Why bother to tell people why your dishwasher is the best when it's on sale for 50% off? After all, they just care about the money they're saving! Of course, when the "50% off" dishwasher breaks in six months, the customer will wish he had paid a little more for a better-quality item.
Your product may be the best, but if the customer has no need for it, then he or she won't purchase. When you discover the customer's "want", they will buy your product.
You might list all of the features of your item, but will a customer know why a "dual over-head exhaust valve" is a good thing to have? If you explain that this feature really means "higher gas mileage, less trips to the gas station, and less money spent on gas", then the customer is more likely to purchase the product since you've appealed to their "want".
The description for digital products should include the features and benefits of the product as well as an overview of the product and a listing of what's actually included.
Product Overview
The overview of the product should be a paragraph or two describing the product. Use your imagination and create a "backstory" for the product. Or, if your product is an aircraft, you might want to include technical specifications about the real-world aircraft. Like the sales images, this should draw the customer in and inspire his imagination.
If you've used your own product in a graphic novel or project, feel free to talk about it. We even allow links to your portfolio or gallery page.
List of Features
Does your product include moving parts? Does your product include figures, or props, or multiple models, or cameras?
How many polygons does your model have? How large are the textures? Does your product include specular, bump, normal, or displacement maps?
List of Benefits
As you create your list of features, you should also make a list of how these features will benefit the customer. If your product is a figure file, how will the customer benefits from this? Why is a good idea to have detailed textures? If your model has moving parts, how will this benefit the customer- is he an animator? Can the model be posed in different positions?
What's Included?
Don't forget to include a list of files that are included with the product. This doesn't have to be an exact, bulleted list of the files, but you should make it clear that the product includes a model or X number of textures. For example, if you show some soldiers in your sales images, make sure the customers knows that your product is only a set of poses... and does not include the figure or clothing.
The last thing to keep in mind is search terms. By now, you probably have a product description that's 3 or 4 paragraphs long, but you'll want to make sure you almost "overload" your description with words that could be used by customers to find your product. If you are selling a building, make sure your description includes words such as building, scene, background, and so on. But, make sure that you use the words naturally in a sentence, instead of simply writing a list of words.
Media Files
Feel free to include embed links to extra media files, such as a Sketchfab WebGL preview or a YouTube video.
Here are some examples:
Bad:
•"This is a house with an opening door."
(Does not tell the customer anything about the product.)
•"This a motorcycle with moving wheels."
(Does not tell anything about the product nor why 'moving wheels' is a good feature.)
•"'Afternoon Leaves' is an enchanting set for your favorite V3 character. Use it in any fantasy setting."
(Does not tell the customer what 'Afternoon Leaves' is: it could be a texture set, a clothing object, a set of props, or a set of background images. If this is a texture set for a clothing object, this description does not say what clothing objects are required.)
Good:
•Abbey in Ruins: Monastery
•Airliner 717
•Engineering Room XT
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